Replacing Habits

The Power of Habit says it's impossible to remove a habit. You will need to combat it with willpower. This may become habitual itself. But when you suddenly have a really bad period, chances are big you will fall back into the old habit.

The book goes on to say that it is possible to replace a habit. You need to keep the trigger and reward the same, but replace the routine.

You could replace a smoking habit by one below, depending on your trigger and reward at the time.

Trigger	Routine	Reward	Context
feeling stressed	grab jacket invite colleague go outside light a cigarette	feeling connected / relaxed feeling	Smoking
feeling stressed	grab a jacket invite colleague go outside run	feeling connected / relaxed feeling	Running
feeling stressed	find a quiet room meditate	relaxed feeling	Meditation

Same with drinking a lot of coffee.

Trigger	Routine	Reward	Context
feeling tired	walk to kitchen make coffee pour a cup add lots of sugar drink coffee	caffeine / sugar / hot beverage / 5 min meditation	Coffee
feeling tired	walk to kichen grab apple eat apple	caffeine / sugar / hot beverage / 5 min meditation	Fruit
feeling tired	walk to kichen make tea add lots of sugar drink tea	caffeine / sugar / hot beverage / 5 min meditation	Herbal tea

The most difficult part here is finding out exactly which trigger and which rewards drives the behaviour.

You can have a desire for coffee because:

you're tired -> caffeine

you need a break -> 5 min break

you have low blood sugar -> sugar

your stomach is upset -> hot beverage

So once you know which trigger and which reward are driving the habit (in this case) you can replace the routine, but keeping the trigger and reward the same.

(src: Book: The Power of Habit)